


witches and other magical pests

by avaconflava



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Magic AU, more characters and pairings will be added later! probably!, there will be witches and wizards and lots of fun creatures, witch!yahaba, wizard!kyoutani
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:55:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28851672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avaconflava/pseuds/avaconflava
Summary: Kyoutani Kentarou doesn't like debts, doesn't like pity, and definitely doesn't like witches and their silly little mind games.Naturally, when he finds himself indebted to Yahaba Shigeru, the first thing he wants to do is settle the score and never see him or his potion shop ever again.Unfortunately, the universe (and Oikawa Tooru) have other plans.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 28





	1. as it turns out, baby basilisks also have teeth

Kyoutani is definitely delirious, but he’s not sure if it’s from blood loss or whatever that… well, he can’t remember what it was that got him here, and that’s not a good sign.

Iwaizumi has an arm around his back and is definitely doing most of the work getting him from Oikawa’s car to wherever they’re going, Kyoutani’s legs fumbling beneath him as he lurches. Somewhere, distantly, he can hear Oikawa say something in that horrible sing-song voice of his that always makes his blood boil, but he can’t make out the words or muster enough coherency to bite back an insult or tune in for whatever Iwaizumi’s response is, too focused on trying to keep his legs under him as his mentor guides him through a door. He makes it what he thinks must be at least five feet into the room before everything goes dark. 

The next time he wakes up, he doesn’t recognize his surroundings. It takes him a moment, staring up at a white ceiling that’s too far away and far too bright, but once his brain catches up he shoots upright.

He then promptly almost buckles to the floor. His right leg feels like lead, and it hurts, and he lets out a long groan of pain, but manages to stay upright.

A light, unfamiliar laugh sounds from his right, and his head whips around. He’s in someone’s living room, and to his right there’s a door to a kitchen. A man he doesn't recognize is leaning against the doorframe.

“Good, you’re awake. You’re about due for more ointment.”

“Where the fuck am I?” Kyoutani bites out. 

“Oikawa and Iwaizumi took you here last night, you were in pretty bad shape. Baby basilisk gotcha, do you remember?”

That gives Kyoutani pause, sifting through his memories from the night before. He remembers going out on a job with Iwaizumi, remembers running into a nest of large, freshly hatched eggs when he went to check the basement even though they’d just been called for soot sprites, remembers…

“Who the fuck are you.”

The man narrows his eyes at that. “Tch, you'd think you’d be more grateful you aren’t dead right now, you know, even a baby basilisk -”

Kyoutani lets out a growl, whipping his head around to look for his stuff and get out, since obviously this asshole isn’t going to be much help.

“Your things are downstairs, if that’s what you’re looking for,” the man tells him, sounding profoundly unimpressed. Kyoutani wants to slit his throat a little bit. “Also, you owe me fifty-seven dollars.”

“WHAT.”

“Potions and service fee.” He turns back into the kitchen, reemerging a moment later with a steaming mug. Kyoutani can see runes painted on it, though he hasn’t the faintest idea what they mean. “If you’re still thinking of leaving, I still need to package up the rest of your ointments, and you won’t make it far without them.”

Kyoutani stares at him, finally taking a good look at whoever this man is. He’s tall, taller than Kyoutani probably, but slim, with brown hair that almost looks grey and a smug expression. Kyoutani’s already decided he doesn’t like him.

The man sighs. “Yahaba Shigeru, by the way. No need to introduce yourself, Kyoutani.”  
And with that he turns, waving his hand for Kyoutani to follow. Kyoutani almost doesn’t out of spite, but the man - Yahaba, what an annoying name - heads through a door at the back of the kitchen, and that must be the way out.

It takes him an embarrassing amount of time to limp down the stairs, his leg protesting viciously every time he puts too much weight on it or bends it too far. Some kind of green slime seems to be oozing out of the bottom, probably the ointment Yahaba mentioned, but Kyoutani doesn’t recognize the strange smell coming from it. It’s not great. 

He makes it down the stairs by some miracle and is met with a short hallway that leads out to a storefront, depositing Kyoutani behind a long wood counter. Floor-to-ceiling shelves jammed full with jars in a variety of sizes and colors containing various liquids, herbs, and… other substances Kyoutani doesn’t look too hard at cover the wall behind the counter, and the shelves in the rest of the store are filled with more officially labelled jars of potions and herbs. Yahaba is seated on a stool behind the counter, screwing the cap onto a jar filled with a slimy green potion as he mumbles something under his breath. A curse, probably, Kyoutani thinks.

“Come around the front, no one’s allowed back here but me,” Yahaba tells him without looking up. Kyoutani sends him a glare, but with Yahabas eyes still on the jar it doesn’t land, so he moves around the edge of the counter and stands in front of the witch. His bag and phone are on the counter next to Yahaba, and he snatches them up, pocketing his phone and shuffling through his bag to make sure the bastard hadn’t taken anything.

Yahaba finally looks up, lifting an eyebrow as he watches Kyoutani pull out a dagger and inspect it for scratches. “You need to apply this ointment twice a day, once in the morning - you need to do it as soon as you can today, don’t forget - and keep the wound wrapped for at least a week. Basilisk venom has a habit of sticking around in your system. I assume you can do that?”

This time Kyoutani’s glare does land, but it’s only met with an amused look as Yahaba sips at whatever strange-smelling tea is in his mug, and Kyoutani’s reminded of Oikawa for a moment, the way he seems to enjoy pressing his buttons. Kyoutani reaches for the jar, but Yahaba slides it out of his reach.

“Nah-uh. Payment first, Kyou-ta-ni!”

Kyoutani growls again, but fishes his wallet out of his bag and digs out three twenty-dollar bills, slamming them on the counter and snatching the jar out of Yahaba’s grip.

“Keep the fuckin’ change,” he mutters as he storms out.

It’s cool but sunny when he steps outside onto the street. He doesn’t recognize where he is immediately, but his phone has a little battery left, and he discovers that he’s only a few short train stops from his apartment. He also discovers that he has thirty-two unread text messages from Oikawa, most of them telling him to show up at the office. The others are snake jokes. Kyoutani deletes all of them, and makes his way to the subway line that will take him home. He can’t tell if he’s getting more looks than usual - he’s sure he looks like death, and he’s still in his clothes from yesterday, the right pant leg ripped and soaked in dried blood, so he wouldn’t be surprised. He doesn’t have headphones on him, but he does his best to avoid people’s gazes, staring at his feet and trying to rid his mind of the strange witch and the sixty fucking dollars he forked over for something that wasn’t even his fault. Oikawa will pay him back for it anyway, but it’s still enough to make his lip curl.

When he finally makes it home he’s immediately almost bowled over by fifty pounds of dog jumping up to lick his face. He grins, maneuvering himself inside and crouching to pet her as she wiggles around him. “I missed you,” he coos at her, scratching behind her ears.

He would’ve been content to stay on the floor with Sunny for hours, but his phone buzzes with a call for the fourth time since he left Yahaba’s, and he doesn’t want Oikawa Tooru to show up at his door. He’s learned the hard way how many calls and texts he can ignore from his bosses before one of them shows up, and Oikawa’s nearly at his limit.

“What,” he says once he’s answered the phone, settling himself down on the floor properly while Sunny sniffs at the bandages on his leg. 

“You’re alive!” Oikawa cheers, and Kyoutani holds the phone away from his ear while his boss cackles. “Yahaba told me you were very rude to him, Kyouken, you really shouldn’t be mean to people who save you from the brink of death!”

“He was an asshole first,” Kyoutani mutters, suffering through another round of cackling from the other end.

“He also told me to remind you to use the ointment he sent you, which you really should do! I’d say it’s for your health, but I’d be more afraid of Yahaba’s wrath!”

“Is that all?”

“Mmm, for now! You have the next week off to rest, but come by the office later, we’ll sort out compensation for that unfortunate situation! Oh, also, Miss Ito called and needs the fairies expelled again, I keep telling her to just call a witch, but -”

Kyoutani groans and puts his phone on speaker, getting up to set it on the kitchen counter. He’s hungry, and disgusting, and exhausted, and he stands for a moment, trying to decide what he should take care of first. Sunny leans against his legs with a whine, and the decision is made when he notices her dish is empty.

He tunes Oikawa out as he fills Sunny’s dish, giving her some of the leftovers from the takeout in the fridge as well and sticking the rest in the microwave. His apartment’s a mess, the couch covered in books and loose change and god knows what, the sink filled with dishes, and clothes and shoes strewn across the floor. He’s full of strange, restless energy - he always is when he gets hurt or after he’s been sick, and he sets out tidying the space. 

“Kyouken, are you even listening to me?”

“No.”

“Rude!” Kyoutani can see Oikawa sticking his tongue out in his mind’s eye, and it almost makes him smile. “I’m hanging up so I can go find my gorgeous, perfect husband who always listens to me and cares about me! Don’t forget the ointment!”

True to his word, Oikawa hangs up, and Kyoutani finishes up the last of his dishes with screamo blasting in the background. It’s still morning, bright light seeping in through the window above the sink, but he needs to at least take a shower and take Sunny for a walk before he goes to Oikawa’s - no time for a nap, probably.

He unwraps the bandages in the bathroom while he waits for the shower to heat up (stupid old building, he hates thinking about how much money he wastes on the water bill just waiting for the shower to get warm). He wipes off the green goo enough to see the wound properly - two small holes, red and puffy around the edges. He’s never run into basilisks before, but if a single baby with a bite that small almost killed him, he’s certain he never wants to come face to face with another one again. 

He washes off the rest of the ointment and grime from last night in the shower, and when he gets out, the jar of ointment is waiting for him next to the sink. He carefully unscrews the cap, giving it a sniff, and instantly recoils. There are herbal scents - some ginger, and turmeric, but the rest is a foul mixture. He almost pours it down the drain, but Yahaba’s warning rings through his head, and he begrudgingly smears some over the bite, trying not to wrinkle his nose as he wraps it in the gauze he keeps in the cabinet beneath the sink (he’s always been pretty good at patching himself up, ever since he started getting into fights as a teenager). 

The sun is still shining with no clouds in sight when he finally emerges from his bedroom clean and dressed. It’s a warm day, for March. He calls Sunny over, leash already in hand, and together they head out of the apartment, Kyoutani steadfastly ignoring the jabs of pain in his leg.

Iwaizumi is sitting at the desk when Kyoutani walks into the office, frowning at something on his laptop. Kyoutani can’t decipher the expression on his face when he looks up and sees Kyoutani - he’s never been good at reading people, not like Oikawa, but one of the things he likes about Iwaizumi is that he always says what’s on his mind or lets it show in his actions.

“Are you feeling okay?” Iwaizumi asks him.

“Mmhm.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

Kyoutani blinks. It hadn’t occurred to him that any part of what happened had been Iwaizumi’s fault in the slightest; his memories from the night before are fuzzy, but he distinctly remembers Iwaizumi taking care of the baby basilisks in one of his rare (but memorable) displays of combat magic.

“It’s not your fault, I shoulda-”

“God, you two are so thick! Obviously the fault was on, ah -” Oikawa glances down at the papers in his hands as he emerges from the back room, “Mr. and Mrs. Sato, who, by the way, have wired us a very generous sum but have not responded to any of my emails.”

Kyoutani’s sure that the deep frown on Iwaizumi’s face is mirrored on his own, but he can’t help but agree with Oikawa (though he’d never say it out loud). The basement hadn’t looked particularly unused, and basilisk eggs, he recalls, take months to hatch. How the couple living in the house hadn’t noticed them or thought to ask Oikawa, or Iwaizumi or even Kyoutani about them is beyond him.

“Kyoutani, I have your cut here, along with a bonus for medical expenses and the trouble,” Oikawa hands him a check, and when he sees the figure on it, the sixty dollars he forked over earlier practically vanish from his mind.

“How much did Yahaba charge you?” Iwaizumi asks.

“Fifty seven dollars,” Kyoutani responds, mind still reeling from the check. Oh, he’s going to spoil Sunny rotten.

Oikawa laughs, one of his rare genuine ones that always make Iwaizumi look at him with that disgusting, sappy, lovestruck face. Kyoutani keeps his eyes glued to the check and the paper underneath it, detailing the breakdown of the sum.

“Ah, Yahaba, he’s too kind sometimes,” Oikawa chuckles, and this time Kyoutani’s eyebrow twitches and he does look up.

“Fifty-seven dollars is a lot of money.”

This time, both Oikawa and Iwaizumi give him an odd look. “Have you been to a potion maker before, Kyoutani?” Iwaizumi asks, sounding amused.

“No.”

They both laugh at this, and Kyoutani prickles, aware there’s some joke he’s not in on. It’s like this at least half the time with his bosses, but he likes to think he understands more now, after working for them for almost two years.

“Well, that ointment probably goes for fifty on its own, and he had to give you all sorts of stuff last night, plus the service fee, of course, seeing as he practically brought you back from the dead. Ah, I suppose he does owe me, though, I wonder if this counts as him paying me back…”

Oikawa rambles on a bit further, but Kyoutani’s still stuck on the price of the ointment alone. It’s not like he’s never had a magical injury before, but it’d never been something he hadn’t been able to power through, wait out, or fix on his own - he knew magical healers and potion sellers were expensive, but his notions of expensive obviously aren’t the same as the magical healing community.

His next thought, after he’s processed the slight shock of the real price tag on his treatments, is that he absolutely in no way, shape, or form can be indebted to Yahaba.

He suffers through a few more minutes of business ramblings from Oikawa before he grunts out a “is there anything else you need from me?” and makes his escape, nearly bumping into a customer on his way out. He’d dropped Sunny off before he went into the office - too many people with allergies come into a pest control office for them to allow pets inside - and he briefly considers stopping by his apartment to get her before immediately dismissing the idea. She’d probably try to eat half of the ingredients and knock over the jars with her ever wagging tail, and then he’d be putting himself further into debt to this asshole.

He hadn’t stopped to take a look at the front of the shop that morning, too focused on getting the hell away. It’s tucked in a quiet corner of the city, a handful of train stops from the bustling downtown office Oikawa and Iwaizumi have. A coffee shop and a record store sit on either side of Yahaba’s Herbal Apothecary, but further down the street is mostly houses and small apartment buildings, the most exciting feature of the small shopping district probably the run-down drag bar on the next block.

He stands across the street for a few minutes, stewing. If he leaves without talking to Yahaba he’ll feel like an idiot, but he doesn’t want to spend any more time talking to the guy than he already has. He also doesn’t want to know what kind of favor he’ll be asked to do whenever Yahaba cashes in this favor, however, and the thought of that drives Kyoutani across the street and into the shop without hesitation.

The shop, when Kyoutani enters, has a nice smell - herbs and incense, mixed with the faint but distinct scent of magic. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, probably adjusted to it from sleeping in Yahaba’s living room. There’s only one other customer, an old woman squinting at some jars of potions, and luckily Yahaba is behind the counter.

Unluckily, he’s staring at him with the same smug expression as earlier.

“Back again? Did you break the jar or something?” he calls, but he has a twist to his eyebrows Kyoutani can’t decipher.

He ignores it and marches up to the counter. “How much do I owe you?”

Yahaba raises an eyebrow. “Unless those were counterfeit bills, we’re even. Unless you need more ointment, in which case-”

“Oikawa said the ointment was worth fifty on its own,” Kyoutani bites back, not waiting for Yahaba to finish. His eyes narrow.

“I wasn’t aware Oikawa set my prices.”

Kyoutani growls and steps back, marching over to a shelf labelled “skincare”. He plucks a jar from the shelf and slams it onto the counter in front of Yahaba. “This is thirty-five fucking dollars and it’s just face wash. Now will you just-”

“Ready to check out, ma’am?” Yahaba practically sings, a bright smile on his face and eyes trained on someone behind Kyoutani. He makes conversation with the old woman as he rings her up, giving her instructions on how to use whatever she’s buying and making mind-numbing small talk that Kyoutani tunes out, instead glaring at Yahaba’s profile and glaringly fake customer service smile.

Yahaba wait until the old woman has left the store before he turns back to Kyoutani, expression souring. “You’re going to scare away all of my customers with that glare, you know.”

“How. Much.”

Yahaba sighs, rolling his eyes. “You don’t owe me a cent. You even tipped, remember?”

Kyoutani barely resists the urge to hop over the counter and punch this asshole in the face. He doesn’t like debts, he doesn’t like pity, and he really, really doesn’t like witches and their weird mind games. 

“Whatever your problem is, it’s not mine unless it has to do with that bite, which seems to be doing fine since you’re upright. I’m assuming Oikawa reimbursed you for the medical expense?”

Kyoutani remains silent, and Yahaba takes that as a yes.

“Then he can take up any issue with pricing with me directly. Whatever discount I gave was a favor to him, not you.”

Kyoutani spins around, searching for the cheapest thing in the store he can find, and his eyes land on a small bundle of incense labelled $5. He snatches it from the shelf and throws it on the counter along with a hundred dollar bill, spinning back around with the incense in hand before Yahaba can protest.

“Keep the fuckin’ change,” he calls before slamming the front door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take a shot for every time i use the word "ointment"  
> as youve probably guessed this is just a silly little fic about silly little magic people and their silly little problems!  
> please feel free to yell at me in the comments and feedbacks always appreciated :p  
> see yall... next week maybe?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is this beta read? no. do i proofread? also no. bon appetit!  
> i'm trying to update this weekly, but unfortunately capitalism exists and i'm moving again, so we;re already behind schedule (oops)

Kyoutani refuses to use the word lonely to describe himself. He has Sunny, and the old lady next door who always brings him the cookies and bread shes always baking, and Oikawa and Iwaizumi are always pestering him into coming over for dinner. He sees Kenma on a regular enough basis to call him a friend rather than an acquaintance, too. So hes not lonely.

Bored, however. That’s an adjective Kyoutani starts to get very comfortable with during his week off from work. He checks out a hoard of books from the local library, and he takes Sunny out for hours, but he’s gotten used to working five days a week, sometimes well into the night, and spending a lot of his time outside of work doing the basics to keep him alive and sane. He can’t remember the last time he had seven days with no obligations. 

He gives up on the fourth day and decides to go exploring. He moved to the city from his smaller, shittier hometown four years ago, but he’s never been to the art museum, so he starts there. It’s not particularly big, as it turns out, but the exhibitions aren’t too boring, a lot of weird contemporary stuff Kyoutani doesn’t understand and a lot of paintings of nature, which he likes.

On the fifth day he visits Suga’s plant store. Kyoutani does not consider himself particularly involved with the local magical community beyond what Oikawa and Iwaizumi expect, but Suga’s impossible to not befriend.

“Kyoutani! Gosh, from what Oikawa said over the phone I thought you were half dead!” Suga calls when he walks in, fiddling with a potted mandrake. The store is closer to the suburbs than downtown, allowing for a large nursery behind the storefront, and Kyoutani likes it here. It’s full of a kind of magic that feels replenishing. 

“I’m fine,” he grunts out as Suga comes over to fuss, demanding Kyoutani show him the bite.

“Ah, I heard you went to Yahaba’s, he really is the best, you know, that old guy down the street from me is so old fashioned,” Suga tuts, squinting at the green stuff Kyoutani’s been dutifully applying. “Ah, it’s good you’re here! I didn’t want to bother you all with this, especially since you’re technically out of commission for the moment, but I’ve been having a problem with these pesky bugs…”

He spends a good two hours with Suga, talking him through how to deal with the barely-magical bug problem that has, apparently, been absolutely plaguing him (Kyoutani has a sneaking suspicion it’s a ruse to trap him into conversation and draw gossip out of him, but he’s so hungry for something to do he lets Suga chat his ear off, offering a few vague pieces of advice). 

“Did you hear that Akaashi’s been seeing someone?” Suga leans in once he’s satisfied with Kyoutani’s advice. The plant witch is even more of a gossip than Oikawa, but Kyoutani did, in fact, know this- not because he was particularly invested in Akaashi Keiji’s love life, but because Oikawa had whined for a full three days that he had to hear about the new boyfriend from Kuroo and not Akaashi himself.

“Apparently he’s not magical, not even a little! Kuroo met him in school, and he moved into the city recently to start a veterinarian’s office! Of course, I might start having to take Vega there, Akaashi is just so private, you know, and I need to meet this guy!”

Kyoutani hums. “I need a new vet for Sunny, too.”

“Sunny! How is she! It’s a real shame you didn’t bring her, Hinata should be here in a few minutes if he’s on time, and you know he adores her. He’s doing so well, you know, I sent him to the country for a few days to learn about farming magic and he’s come back with all of these new spells even I haven’t heard of, I really should be keeping up to date but with the shop I just don’t have time to go out to see Futakuchi that often. Oh my god, you have to see the pictures he took, though, there’s this calf that was born last month that is absolutely the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”

True to Suga’s word, Hinata comes crashing into the shop (only fifteen minutes late, a miracle) and bombards Kyoutani with more chatter and an endless supply of farm photos (Kyoutani does ask him to send a few of the calf, with a promise to send a few of Sunny in return). It’s strangely nice, listening to Suga’s gossip and Hinata’s ramblings about farming spells and Aone. Maybe he needs to get out more.

He manages to extract himself from conversation after Hinata starts pestering Suga to teach him about proper eucalyptus care, escaping with only three potted plants shoved into his arms to join the veritable garden Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s office has become. 

On the sixth day, Kyoutani decides to practice magic.

On a technical level, Kyoutani is a wizard, and according to Iwaizumi he has “potential”. That Kyoutani has power isn’t news to him. His father’s a wizard, too, part of a long line of magical Kyoutanis, but he hardly ever saw him use it, and when he did, well. It hadn’t ever ended well. Most of Kyoutani’s magical training growing up had been focused on containing his magic.

Now he finds himself face to face with another young wizard in a warded room. Kyoutani’s sparred with Tanaka before - he’s around Kyoutani’s age, and better than Kyoutani, but he obviously hadn’t grown up with magical training like most of the wizards Kyoutani’s met. He’s also always at the small training center, at least when Kyoutani decides to show up. He wonders if the other wizard has a job.

“Come at me, dude! What, too afraid I’ll block ya?” Tanaka grins, puffing his bare chest out. It’s covered in bruises and small scars, evidence of the repercussions of his tendency to provoke his opponents.

Kyoutani growls. He’s content to practice his defensive magic, but Tanaka always insists on switching and sparring and trying out new techniques. Kyoutani doesn’t do new. He’s been at this for a couple of years now, ever since he started apprenticing under Iwaizumi, but he hasn’t picked up much more than defense spells, a habit that Iwaizumi and Tanaka seem to have both noticed.

He sends a small attack spell at Tanaka, which is easily blocked, the other wizard jeering at him to go further. Kyoutani can feel the familiar boiling in his blood, magic wanting to get out, to attack, to destroy - 

A wave of fire magic erupts from his fingers before he can push it down.

He watches, a wave of dread like ice in his stomach, as Tanaka ducks, throws up his arms, a blocking spell slowing the flames but not stopping them, he watches as they singe his arm, his shirt - 

Laughter breaks through Kyoutani’s horrified spell.

“Man, I knew you had something in there, fuck!” Tanaka’s grinning. “C’mon, dude, don’t look so pissed off, Noya’s been helpin’ me with my defense.” Kyoutani doesn’t know how to respond. The cold wash of dread is melting, replaced by something sharper. He can feel magic humming in his fingers, in his throat. “Come at me, bro!”

So Kyoutani does.

Later, when he’s exhausted and covered in bruises and scrapes and slumped on his couch with Sunny, he gets a text from Iwaizumi.

_Come over for dinner tonight?_

It’s not unusual for Oikawa and Iwaizumi to invite him to dinner, or drinks, or a variety of other activities, many of them involving the vast network of friends they seem to have all over the city. Usually, Kyoutani declines - especially when others are involved - but usually, Oikawa is the one blowing up his phone with the request and details, demanding his presence.

Iwaizumi is the one who texts him when something is important.

_What time?_

_Seven. Akaashi and Suga are coming too._

_Okay_

Oikawa and Iwaizumi live in a cozy second-floor apartment in an old brick building just outside of downtown. He’d never admit it, but Kyoutani likes their place. It’s full of odd magical items and plants and it feels lived in, like a home in a way that the string of shitty apartments Kyoutani’s inhabited since striking out on his own never have.

He’s greeted at the doorway by Oikawa, but before he can grunt out a greeting Lilo rushes over, spinning and barking at his feet until Kyoutani crouches down to pet her. 

“Lilo, stop! Sit!” Oikawa tries to get his dog’s attention, but Lilo’s already on her back to let Kyoutani rub her belly. “I swear, everytime I try to train her she gets more naughty. Sit! Lilo!”

Kyoutani indulges the dog for a few moments before he stands and makes his way into the apartment. He peeks through the doorway to the kitchen first, and sends a quick greeting to Iwaizumi, who’s bent over a few pots on the stove with a concentrated frown. He grunts a greeting back but doesn’t look up, so Kyoutani backs out and makes his way to the living room.

“Good to see you, Kyoutani,” Akaashi greets him politely from the couch, unfazed by Oikawa, who has made himself comfortable with his legs sprawled across Akaashi’s lap. 

“You too,” he mutters, trying to sound as polite as possible. Akaashi is intimidating, all piercing stares and polite, contained gestures. He takes a seat in an armchair across from the couch, Lilo leaping into his lap.

“I heard you were injured recently. Are you healing alright?” Akaashi asks.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yes yes, Yahaba took care of our little Kyoutani very nicely! But Kyouken, when I said he undercharged you, I didn’t mean for you to go pay him back!” Oikawa’s pouting at him, but there’s an edge to his gaze.

“I don’t need his pity,” Kyoutani huffs out. He feels like sinking into the armchair, becoming one with it, and never coming back under the expectant stares of both Akaashi and Oikawa. “Or to owe him any favors.”

“Sometimes, debts can be advantageous,” Akaashi speaks up before Oikawa can continue the argument. “Even when you’re the one who owes another. That’s how many strong alliances are formed.”

Kyoutani restrains himself from retorting that never in his life does he want to form an alliance with that conniving bastard, but he’s saved from having to navigate a debate with Akaashi by loud knocking at the door.

“Suga’s here!” Oikawa shrieks, jumping up from the couch and rushing to the door. Suddenly, Akaashi looks significantly less calm.

Sure enough, Suga rushes through the doorway, calling a quick greeting and ignoring Oikawa entirely, latching his eyes onto Akaashi.

“Akaashi Keiji! I need his full name, date and place of birth, social security number, social media accounts, school records, and at least three references from exes!” 

“Wha - Suga. That’s completely unreasonable.”

“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone!” Suga turns to Kyoutani, a sunny smile suddenly painting his face. “Oh hello, Kyoutani, it’s good to see you!” He turns back to Akaashi. “I cannot believe you’d betray our friendship like this!”

“This is why,” Akaashi mutters as Suga claims the spot next to Akaashi on the couch.

“Suga! You steal my spot in my own home?” Oikawa gasps, a hand over his heart.

“This is Iwaizumi’s home, you just live here,” Suga quips back.

Oikawa whines but settles into the armchair next to Kyoutani. “I’m curious too, though, Akaashi! It’s been so long since you’ve dated anyone, he must really be special!”

A light blush has made itself at home on Akaashi’s cheeks, and it takes a moment to process the expression. Akaashi doesn’t blush, at least not in Kyoutani’s memory. It’s a bit of a shock.

Suga and Oikawa start prodding Akaashi for details of his love life, and it takes Kyoutani about five minutes to get bored enough to slink off to the kitchen. “Bored?” Iwaizumi chuckles, looking up from the stove. “Come here, chop.”

Kyoutani lets Iwaizumi direct him around the kitchen, picking up a knife and chopping green onions dutifully. The kitchen is larger than Kyoutanis but cozy, light green paint on the walls and racks of spices and pans hanging in every available space. 

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m glad to hear you’ve been making friends,” Iwaizumi tells him. “I know Oikawa probably tells you this every other day, but community is important. I know you don’t like a lot of people, but you need to be able to set aside your personal feelings sometimes. For your community.”

Kyoutani looks up at him. Iwaizumi meets his gaze steadily. “That sounds ominous.”

Iwaizumi sighs. “We’re going to talk about it over dinner, but Ushijima is being… troublesome again.”

Kyoutani’s frown deepens. “What -”

“We’ll discuss it with the others over dinner.” Iwaizumi turns back to his cooking, lifting the pan off of the stove and sliding portions of the mapo tofu into bowls. “But now is a time to be coming together with the people we can trust and rely on, Kyoutani. Not insulting them.” 

“If you’re talking about Yahaba, he’s an asshole, I’m not going to pretend to like -”

“I’m not asking you to pretend to like him,” Iwaizumi cuts him off, a slight edge to his voice, and Kyoutani’s mouth snaps shut. “But don’t insult him. He’s one of the best magical healers in the city, if not the best, and that’s not someone you need to piss off. You could do worse than owe him a favor or two.”

Kyoutani doesn’t reply, letting his eyes fall to the cutting board. He feels a bit like when he was a kid and one of his teachers would scold him for not getting along with one of the other kids on the playground.

“Now, help me bring these bowls out to the table, it’s not like Lazykawa’s going to help.”

Conversation over dinner stays relatively light, but there’s a certain tension, especially with Akaashi. By the time Oikawa brings out dessert the conversation has died down. Even Sugawara seems more subdued than usual, though he brightens when Oikawa sets a slice of cake in front of him.

“Ushijima paid me a visit yesterday,” Akaashi pipes up, eyebrows furrowed. “I have already spoken to Suga about this, but he seems very concerned with the legality of my practice. He also wanted to know about the origin of certain weapons that he brought along. Cursed weapons, of course.”

Oikawa sneers. “Ushiwaka just doesn’t like the idea of anyone having fancier toys than him. Yahaba got a visit too, he couldn’t make it tonight but he texted me two days ago.”

“There seems to be some question about the legality of the magic used to make the weapons,” Akaashi lets out a tight smile. “Which I think we are all aware of, considering Ushijima’s standards.”

“Tendou’s being as blasé as ever, of course, but I’ll tell him to lay low,” Suga interjects. “He’s been a bit careless recently with his clients. I think he’s trying to buy a house.”

Akaashi cracks a smile at that and Oikawa lets out a cackle. “Ushiwaka needs to be taken down a peg! He’s been traipsing around for too long like he owns the city.”

“I’ll talk to Kuroo the next time I see him,” Akaashi says. “If anything, he should at least talk to Tendou before Ushijima sniffs him out.”

“I’m more worried about why Ushiwaka thinks he has the right to question us, especially your practice, Akaashi,” Iwaizumi sets down his fork, leaning his elbows on the table. “No one’s been hurt, that we know of, so he has no right to be in anyone’s business.”

“If Tendou’s using illegal magic, he does, technically. Which we all know he is.”

“Ushiwaka just needs to justify his own existence,” Oikawa sniffs. “His job is more or less completely useless, but he can’t admit it!”

“That may be true, but he still holds power, even with Kuroo on our side,” the frown is back on Akaashi’s face. 

“If we stick together, Ushijima won’t be able to touch any of us,” Suga nudges Akaashi with his shoulder. “Anyway, what’s more boring than talking about Ushijima! Kyoutani, tell me what the wild youths have been up to!”

The rest of the night goes by peacefully, the serious conversation melting into lighter chatter, but Akaashi especially still seems troubled whenever Kyoutani spares a glance at him. Kyoutani’s barely even met Ushijima, vowing to stay as far away as possible from law enforcement when he moved into the city, but he knows Oikawa and Iwaizumi in particular have a grudge against him Kyoutani doesn’t fully understand.

As he’s leaving, Iwaizumi pulls him to the side. “Think about what I said, okay? No making enemies, especially out of people who are already our friend.”

“Fine,” Kyoutani grumbles. Privately, he thinks that it’ll be a cold day in hell when he calls Yahaba a friend. 

On the seventh day, Kyoutani goes back to work.

He’d received a text from Oikawa the day before asking him to man the office for the morning, which Kyoutani had begrudgingly agreed to. Usually Oikawa’s in the office to handle walk-in customers, but he’s been leaving the job to Kyoutani more often in the last few months so he can “build up his customer service skills”, the bastard. 

He arrives a few minutes before the office officially opens, booting up the aging desktop at the front desk and peering through some of the files Oikawa had left on the desk. It’s all standard jobs, mainly soot sprites at this time of year, with a few garden gnome infestations thrown in. Disappointingly boring.

He makes himself a cup of coffee in the cramped back room before he unlocks the door and flips the sign from closed to open, setting it down on the desk next to the computer and settling into the office chair with his book. Most of their customers contact them by email or phone, not coming into the office, but this early in the morning even the phone and computer are silent. Besides the the low voices and shuffling from the other offices they share a building with, it’s perfectly quiet.

He whittles away an hour or so in relative peace. It’s raining outside, the soft patter against the window nearly lulling Kyoutani to sleep, so he rises after answering a few emails to make himself more coffee and answer Iwaizumi’s texts about splitting the jobs to be done that week. The last of the coffee is dripping into his cup when the bell above the door jingles.

When Kyoutani peers through the doorway, Ushijima Wakatoshi is standing in the center of the office, a frown etched on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more characters, yay!  
> writing this has kind of reminded me i still haven't completely finished the haikyuu manga lmao, i really need to get on that  
> i hope yall enjoy this update!!! feedback is always appreciated, huge thanks to yall who left kudos and comments on the last chapter - i haven't written any haikyuu in ages and im having a lot of fun with this, thank yall for the kind words !!!


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